Finding Tails
by kindbloodedArlanna
Summary: Death's affect can devastate us, but we can always bounce back if we try.


For my grandmother, who died last year, April 30th, after fighting breast cancer ten times for 12+ years.

I love you.

Tails walked around town, sighing. He was unsure of what to do now. He didn't feel much like doing anything. Not studying the properties of the chaos emeralds, working on his inventions, flying the tornado, or even hanging around with Sonic. But nobody could hang out with Sonic anymore, anyway. Ever since Chris had left, he'd gone insane. He had nightmares every night, where he woke up shrieking the whole town awake, he'd been having panic attacks at random moments, then ran all over town screaming, "WATER, WATER! IT'S EVERYWHERE! GET IT OFF!" Then ran off toward Emerald Coast and started swimming far out into the ocean until he got enough sense to realize what he was doing and started to drown until Amy pulled him out. Another time Sonic thought Eggman was holding Chris captive somewhere, and then Eggman reminded Sonic about the shuttle-pod.

"You- you _Egghead!_ He's probably dead, now!" Sonic had said, before running off the nearest cliff. That night had been lit up by Sonic's blue streak, like fireworks on the 4th of July, and continued off into the horizon. He hadn't been seen since. Amy_ still_ hadn't stopped crying. He'd just _disappeared_- like Shadow. Shadow reminded Tails of Chris. Chris reminded him of-

Tails thoughts were all jostled together and discombobulated. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

' I'm so confused,' he thought furiously, ' I can't think straight anymore! I need to know what I should do next… but what is it? I need some advice, but who should I ask? Chris just went home, and Cosmo and Sonic are… _gone._ Knuckles is no good to talk to, Amy's too emotional right now, and Vector's just… weird (why did I just think of him?). Maybe Cream would be all right, though. She's very understanding and never judges people… mostly.

Tails left his house and walked down the road to Cream's house and knocked on the front door. To Tails' surprise, it wasn't Vanilla or Cream who answered the door, it was Amy. Her eyes were red from crying, as usual.

"Hi, Tails," said Amy halfheartedly

"Hi," said Tails, " is Cream here? Or Vanilla?"

"No, they've gone to the Mobian cemetery."

Amy's voice broke, "we do, now."

Then she slowly shut the door. Tails walked away trying to figure out what she'd meant. It might've been a simple sentence, easy to understand, for most people at least. But all it'd done was make Tails even more confused. He closed his eyes for a second to sort it all out.

'What did she mean, _we do now?_ Does that mean they found Sonic? Is he really…?'

Tails couldn't bear to think of it.

'Well, if there's a new cemetery around here, I guess I should go look. Cream's there anyway.'

Tails kept on walking down the road, past Knuckles', Amy's, and Sonic'- Tails felt a pang of sadness- homes, then came to a stop.

Tails had reached the cemetery. Right outside the cemetery gates was the biggest, most realistic statue of Sonic he'd ever seen in his life (c'mon, you can't possibly say there aren't any of him, after all this time). It looked almost exactly like Sonic. Nearly all of it was made of some kind of stone. His quills were made of sapphire. His stomach, arms, muzzle, and the inside of his ears were made of a peach colored stone. His shoes were made from bright, red granite. His eyes, gloves, and shoe straps were made of ivory. The buckles were gold. His green eyes were pure emerald (not a chaos emerald!); his pupils and nose were made of ebony. Sonic was holding a gold ring in his hand, with a look of determination on his face. He was positioned as if he were ready to jump into battle once again.

Sonic was standing on a pedestal. On the pedestal, there was a gold plate. The gold plate had an inscription on it, which read…

SONIC  


A hero, a friend, a loved one, a guide, and so much more. To each of you, he meant something different. He always helped others when they were in need. He helped them up when they were down. He always knew just what to say. He was very dedicated to Mobius, as well as his friends:

~ 'Tails'- Miles Prower: very handy, always ready to help.

~ Knuckles Echidna: guardian of the master emerald.

~ Amelia Rose: Sonic's ultimate admirer.

~ Cream Rabbit: a young girl with a sweet personality and a big heart.

~ Christopher Thorndike: an intelligent boy who resides on another planet.

~ Cosmo Seedrian: a wonderful person who always gave to others, may she rest in peace.

~And all of the many others fortunate enough to know him in his lifetime, and vice versa.

Sonic, this is now speaking directly to you, although you may not be here today…

You've shown us so much love and support over the years. You've always fought for our freedom and rights, protecting us from power-hungry fiends like Dr. Eggman. You've sacrificed so much for us, time and time again. We all love you, Sonic. Even though you have never been found, that doesn't mean you are truly gone. You have a special place in all of our hearts, which we will hold tight for years to come.

Sonic, if you are alive, and you are reading this, we want you to know that even if you were ready to leave us, we weren't ready to say goodbye.

Keep on moving, and good luck.

-Mobius.

Tails couldn't help smiling as he read this, remembering all the good times he and Sonic had together, and knowing that every single part was true.

'Maybe it's not all as bad as it seems,' Tails thought calmly, 'all I need to do is remember the good memories, the happy memories. I might not be able to hang out with Sonic anymore, but I can remember all the awesome times we've had together. And Cosmo might not be with me anymore, but I can remember all of the wonderful days that we had together.'

Tails looked up at the statue. "Thanks Sonic," he said gratefully. Just then, Cream and Vanilla came out of the cemetery. Tails thought Cream looked a little sad.

"Why were you in there," Tails asked her softly, "who died?"

Cream looked up at him slowly, "It was cheese."

"Why, Cream?" Tails asked, surprised, "he's only a baby chao."

"I think the trip through outer space was too much for him, Tails. And then, after Cosmo, I don't think he could handle it much longer."

"Oh, I'm sorry Cream. Are you alright?"

"I'm just a little sad- he was a good friend, after all. But it doesn't feel like he's truly gone, because deep inside of me, he's got a special place. There are so many happy memories I have with him, it's like he almost never left."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I thought so. You look much happier."

"Yep, I am! I feel great! I think I'll even go fix up the tornado! See you later, Cream!"

"Bye, Tails!"

Then Cream watched as Tails ran energetically back up the road towards his workshop. Cream couldn't help smiling. It was good to see Tails back to his happy, energetic self.

When Cream and Vanilla walked through the door a minute later, one of the first things Amy said was, "I saw Tails running past here, Cream. He looked really happy. Do you know what that was about?"

"Yes. He was at the cemetery, reading Sonic's gold plaque, and when he was finished, he told me that he even felt like fixing the tornado! Isn't that great?"

Suddenly, for the first time in ages, a smile broke out on Amy Rose's face. 'Well, well, Tails,' she thought, 'looks like you found yourself at last. It's good to have you back.'

9:10 p.m.- Tails stood up, satisfied with his work. 'I'm glad I didn't let my sadness pull me down,' he thought, 'now I can just focus on the happy things in life. I feel great, now! Anyway, Cosmo would never have wanted me to be so unhappy. She'd want me to persevere through the hard times and keep doing what I enjoy. I'm glad to be back in the workshop!'

Tails observed his work with pride. The tornado had been washed sparkling clean. The circuitry had been rewired, the gas tank had been refilled, and Tails had made a few updates to the plane's control system.

"That should do it for tonight. Tomorrow I'll check the cockpit and the plane's oil."

Tails let out a wide yawn.

"Man, that felt good! I can't wait to get a good night's rest!"

Tails went out of the workshop and into his house, looking forward to a new day tomorrow, and a new start on his life.

I wrote this only a few months after my grandmother died, so I apologize if my grammar is not up to snuff.

I ask for no reviews, only that you enjoy the story. Thank you!


End file.
